


Phoenix Wings and Dragons Tears

by BlackclawKitty19



Category: Overwatch (Video Game), 機動戦士ガンダム 鉄血のオルフェンズ | Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Injury, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:21:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23217682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackclawKitty19/pseuds/BlackclawKitty19
Summary: 300 years after the Calamity War, Gjallarhorn is slowly losing its grip on control over Earth, the Moon colonies, and Mars. In the rising conflicts and tension, different factions rise up to attempt to take control of the power shifts. Throw in ancient machines hellbent on destruction, and Pilots determined to stop them, and you have the setting for an interplanetary war.
Relationships: Jesse McCree/Hanzo Shimada
Kudos: 4





	Phoenix Wings and Dragons Tears

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is an AU that I've been working on for a few months now, its something special to me, and honestly, this is the first big project like this I've worked on since middle school...so we'll see how this goes. I do want to give some context, just because I probably wont be able to explain it fully in the story, and I don't know how many people have seen Iron Blooded Orphans.  
> Gjallarhorn is basically a super organization controlled by 7 families of super rich Earth dwellers with military grade power.  
> Mars and the Moon Colonies are extremely underfunded, and considered lower class environments by Earth born people.  
> The Calamity War was a giant civil war that ended with 1/4 of humanity being wiped out. Mobile Suits were created to fight during the Calamity War.  
> Gundam frames are super powerful machines that are considered legendary, and only certain people can pilot them.  
> Tekkaden is the main group from the anime, and were the ones to basically set everything in motion in the anime. Their actions will directly influence this work.
> 
> I'll add more as I go, with authors notes at the end of the chapters <3 Thank you in advance and I hope you enjoy!!

T5-CGS MOBILE WORKER: Heavy Machinery for use in combat, construction and other heavy duty jobs.  
Alaya-Vinjana compatible.  
MOBILE WORKERS on hand: 23

Jesse's thumb scrolled down on the datapad.

STH MOBILE SUIT: A high powered, high capacity, mass produced Mobile Suit meant for combat by small militia. Produced by TEIWAZ.  
Alaya-Vinjana compatible  
MOBILE SUIT FRAMES on hand: 7

God, he hated doing inventory.

Custom MOBILE SUIT FRAMES  
Alaya-Vinjana compatible  
STH-19 TOKKI: (Pilot) Hana Song  
EB-0279 HIRYU: (Pilot) Genji Shimada  
IPP-46 AVIATOR: (Pilot) Lena Oxton  
STH-31 AUDITIVA: (Pilot) Lucio Correia Dos Santos  
UGY-C64 GRYFFONHARDT: (Pilot) Reinhardt Wilhelm  
UGY-365 HORIZON: (Pilot) Winston  
UGY-S89 MEDVED: (Pilot) Aleksandra Zaryanova

Jesse stopped scrolling.

ASW-G-12 GUNDAM FRAME PHOENIX: Unknown  
Alaya-Vinjana compatible  
Incomplete Information

Chills trickled down Jesse's spine, the last entry in the datapad catching the pilot’s attention.The mysterious entry was foreboding, whispering of lost tales and coming danger. Like it was a wild beast that had yet to be tamed. No information logged yet on the machine's interior. A complete enigma. As another wave of chills prickled Jesse, he decided that maybe it wasn’t from the ominous frame’s entry.

It was cold, it was always cold, but it was space wasn’t it? It was meant to be cold. Not like how it was at home. Even being as far from the Sun as they were, Mars was still pleasant. Made working the fields in a Mobile Worker almost enjoyable. The golden rays soaking into your clothes and warming your back. The hair on your head holding in the heat and dripping sweat into your eyes.

Jesse sighed, sitting up from his spot in the Launch Bay. The cold, hard metal draining any and all warmth left from where his back had lain. He ran a hand through his messy brown hair, teasing it a little before stretching out, his Alaya-Vinjana system hardwired into his back creaking along with his stiff bones. He grabbed his hat that was gently floating next to him and placed it on his brown hair, the familiar weight on his head centering him.

Memories of Mars weren’t always pleasant, but what Jesse would give to feel the sun among the crops. The vast, freezing expanse of space wasn’t really his idea of home, neither was Earth. 

He glanced up at the Mobile Suits that Overwatch had just raided from Earth. They were tall, imposing, and expensive. The TEKKADEN incident had made it difficult for anyone to even land there, let alone try to fly under the radar. Gjallarhorn, Earth’s strongest defense force and a massive military force made it beyond difficult to do anything. Their Iron grip on power had loosened lightly after TEKKADEN, but only just. He didn’t know why they had even gone there, but it was more than worth the risk in the end. Jesse glanced over at the Mobile Suit that, against Winston’s orders, he had insisted they had taken. A hidden, dusty old unit like it. Something in his mind had called for it, been pulled to the old Mobile Suit. A Gundam Frame. The same one from the entry log. Torbjorn’s handy work.

Torbjorn had gasped and fussed over the machine, spouting things about the Alaya-Vinjana being made for this frame specifically and that they were apparently legendary. Jesse hadn’t really paid much attention. He was more interested in the suits bright orange, red and gold metal splashed on the pristine white armor, a golden V sitting like a crown on its forehead. Its eyes were green, and almost glittered, sparkling with something akin to wisdom. 

All the Mobile Suits were humanoid shaped, with layers upon layers of intricate armor covering the mechanical frames, making gigantic soldiers made of metal and fire. Boosters, vents, shiny painted plating, all to cover the skeletal frames and tiny pilots inside. Jesse had always marveled at the mechanical prowess.

He thought back to Torbjorn’s words on the Gundam Frame. Legendary machines of magnificent power, containing something similar to a consciousness. There had even been tales of Gundam frames and their pilots having a spiritual connection, like they were pulled together. Almost like...

“Yo, cowboy, you done yet?” A familiar voice rang out in the empty, vacuous space of the Launch Bay, breaking Jesse out of his reverie. He pushed off of the ledge he was perched on, letting the low gravity of the ship take him down closer to the ground floor.

Jesse landed with a metallic thud, the Mobile Suits suddenly much more imposing than before. He bounced lightly as he pushed off, heading towards the open door to the rest of the ship. His best friend, Genji, stood there, with his shiny metal body. He almost looked like a Mobile Suit himself. He had his faceplate off, letting his scarred face and shiny black hair show, something that the other pilot had become increasingly comfortable with.

Jesse was glad if he was being honest. When Genji had first joined Overwatch, he had just been released from Angela’s care, a Gjallarhorn attack leaving him heavily wounded. If Overwatch hadn’t been there, he probably wouldn’t have survived. The first year or so, Genji never showed his face, ashamed of what happened. Something about his brother or family being behind the attack. After Zenyatta, the peace loving medic, had come aboard, Genji had mellowed, and learned to accept his new body. Now the young pilot could be seen without his faceplate often, smiling and enjoying the company of the other members of Overwatch.

“I’m done, we almost home? Can’t wait to be back on Mars for a while.” Jesse remarked, running his hands through his hair. 

“What’s wrong? Had enough of the endless void?” Genji chuckled, pushing him lightly, the low gravity pushing Jesse fairly far. He snorted in response, righting himself as they drifted out of the launch bay and into the ship.

“I’ve had enough of the cold to last me a lifetime. I miss the sunshine, don’t you Genj?” 

The other pilot looked reminiscent, tilting his head to the side. “Hm, I suppose. Earth isn’t really a place I think of for it’s sunshine.” Genji shrugged.

“What’d’ya mean? I heard Earth is even warmer than Mars ‘round this time!” Jesse smiled, thinking of the cooling Mars’ falls during Earth’s vibrant summers.

“I was mostly training to fight or pilot Mobile Suits with my brother during the summer months. I can’t remember doing much other than fighting during that time in my life.” Genji sighed, his breath rattling slightly in his chest as he did.

“You're tellin’ me that you grew up as a rich Earth kid and spent your time runnin’ sims rather than playin’ outside?”

“Well, yes. My father wanted perfect Mobile Suit pilots for Gjallarhorn, the Shimada’s having been one of the premier families tasked with being the provider of ace pilots. That meant, from a very young age, I, and my brother, trained to pilot mobile suits. And be versed in military strategies. We didn’t really get to be kids.” Genji’s voice held a tone of regret in it as he talked.

Jesse clicked his tongue, a sour taste filling his mouth at hearing what Genji’s childhood had been like. He knew that the Shimada’s were a high ranking family among the Seven Stars, the leading 7 families that ruled the Gjallarhorn Dynasty. The Shimada’s had basically been royalty among them, only just falling short of Seven Star status. 

Until it all crumbled around them. Papa Shimada bit the dust, leaving chaos in his wake as his oldest son had tried to pick up the slack. After Genji’s failed assassination attempt, the oldest son disappeared, the remaining family members unable to pick up where he had left off. The family fell into ruin after a year, and now was a shadow of its former self.

Jesse clapped a hand on Genji’s shoulder, trying to be as reassuring as possible. “I gotcha Genj, that’s all in the past now. I’ll show ya what a Mars summer is like when we get home!” He smiled, giving Genji’s shoulder a light shake.

“Yeah, sounds like a plan, Cowboy. Now come on, I came to get you so we could talk about your Mobile Suit with Winston.” Genji chuckled before using the walls to propel himself towards the bridge, Jesse grumbling angrily behind him. 

The bridge to the ORCA was large, a window looking out into the vastness of space adorning the front of the room. In the distance, Mars, the red planet, sat waiting for them in the darkness, casting an eerie crimson glow around the planet. 

On the bridge, sat some of the members of Overwatch. Hana Song, a fellow pilot from one of the Moon colonies, Tracer, another pilot from the Moon colonies. Torbjorn Lindholm and Reinhardt Wilhelm were there too, arguing and joking about the ORCA’s defense systems. In the center of the room, stood their leader, Winston.

Winston was a tall man, with black hair and golden eyes. He was a human experiment from an illegal colony from Earth. He and many other children had been taken from their Earth families as infants and been used to experiment on to make perfect pilots. That’s why the man's eyes were gold now, their old color long lost. Winston was kind though, his tragic past giving him a shy streak a mile wide, but never destroying his good heart. 

At hearing the door open, Winston turned, a large smile breaking out on his face. 

“Ah, Agent Genji, Agent McCree! I’m glad to see you’re both here, feeling better? I know the Earth raid was a little rough.” Winston grinned, looking between both pilots. 

“Yeah we’re fine big guy, don’t worry about us.” Jesse floated to a stop, using one of the bars on the bridge to catch himself.

“So, Agent McCree, we need to talk about your Mobile Suit.” Winston reached for the data pad that was drifting next to him, pulling glasses out of his breast pocket as he did.

Jesse cringed hearing about his precious Mobile Suit. The Blackwatch had been mangled by Gjallarhorn’s Mobile Suits, and he had had to leave it behind on Earth, their caravan being pursued too closely to risk going back for it.  
“So, the Blackwatch was pretty much our only casualty of the raid, and I genuinely apologize about that, McCree.” Winston looked up at Jesse sympathetically before continuing. “That being said, we did manage to take a few extra Mobile Suits, and the Gundam frame. Seeing as how the Deadlock was lost trying to take the Phoenix, it’s only fitting that McCree gets to pilot it first. So, if Torbjorn, Angela and Brigitte would like to meet us in the launch bay for a test flight, then we can get a replacement frame for McCree.” Winston finished, tucking the data pad against this body with a smile.

Jesse's whole body was filled with equal measures of dread and excitement. Something about the Phoenix scared him, but he was pulled to it anyway. A test flight so soon after the loss of =Blackwatch seemed irreverent, but Jesse needed to be ready to fight again, and he really didn’t want to be caught in just a regular STH frame.

The next hour was a blur, everyone rushing to the launch bay and preparing for Jesse's first flight in the Phoenix. Angela, Ana and Zenyatta were waiting on the side in case something went wrong with the Alaya-Vinjana. Winston, Genji and Torbjorn waited on the top of the Phoenix, the massive chest unit open and waiting for its pilot. Jesse took a ragged breath in while he waited for the go ahead to start hooking up. He had been ordered to go shirtless for this, so he could more easily hook up to the Phoenix.

Hana floated over, gently punching Jesse in the shoulder. “Hey Jess, I had a question. Why all the fuss just for you to pilot a Gundam? Isn’t it basically the same thing as a Mobile Suit?” 

“Eh, kinda. It’s mostly about the Alaya-Vinjana. See, AV’s are basically these ports that’re hardwired into a kid’s spinal cord so they can pilot Mobile Suit better. Feeds the frames information directly into the nervous system. Makes for faster reaction times. But, it's a double edged sword. There's a safety limiter on ‘em to make sure that the overload of information doesn’t fry yer brain. From what I hear, Gundam frames are notorious for overloadin’ their pilots AV system on first flight.” Jesse crossed his arms, his heart rate increasing at the thought of the Phoenix linking up with him.

“Wait wait, go back. You got the Alaya-Vinjana as a kid? That's horrible!” Hana proclaimed, her eyes drifting to the protrusion from Jesse's back.

“Yeah, the surgery is real risky, high chance of death. It's virtually impossible on adults, kids bodies are a lot more receptive to the surgery. It was somethin’ developed durin’ the Calamity War 300 years ago.” Jesse thought back to the TEKKADEN incident and the rise of Alaya-Vinjana surgeries...and deaths. 

After seeing how powerful those child pilots had been, everyone had wanted pilots of their own, kidnappings and child slavery rose drastically. That was how Jesse himself had ended up getting the surgery. A lonely orphan from Mars, taken and made into a child soldier. The only reason he was alive now was because Gabriel had saved him.  
But Gabe was long gone, killed by Gjallarhorn. Jesse was a grown man now, far too old to be relying on his only father figure now. The stab of grief and regret in Jesse's heart distracted him from the suspense of the Phoenix, but only just. Hana must have seen the emotions on his face, gently wrapping her hand around his wrist and playfully swinging his arm. Jesse smiled at her, grateful for his friend’s comfort.

“Alright Jesse, we’re ready for you now.” Angela called down from the top of the Phoenix, her medical supplies floating gently next to her.

With a deep breath, Jesse pushed off, floating up to the open cockpit. Winston was waiting for him, apprehension clearly visible in his face. That didn’t give him much comfort at all.

Wordlessly, Jesse turned around, pushing himself into the cockpit. Torbjorn floated behind him, checking the AV limiter installed in the frame, the needle like cord in the frame waiting patiently for its pilot. 

“Well, I think we’re as ready as we’re ever going to be. Let’s hook him up and see if this’ll work. I’ll make adjustments as we go.” The small man grumbled, smacking Jesse's shoulder as the man fidgeted.

Jesse closed his eyes, knowing the first link was always scary. He tuned out Winston’s words, patiently waiting for the AV system to connect.

Nothing could have prepared him for when it began. With a cry, he lurched forward, a flood of information surging through his brain. 

System readings: Green  
Environmental readings: Stable  
Atmospheric conditions: Optimal  
Weapons systems: Online  
AHAB Reactor: Stable  
Alaya-Vinjana: Connected  
ASW-G-12 PHOENIX: Online

Welcome pilot…

Jesse gasped, his senses coming back to him. He vaguely heard voices around him. Blood dripped from his nose, splattering against his lap, staining the tan fabric of his pants crimson. Angela’s face came into view, grabbing his face and shaking him.

“Jesse! Jesse, listen to me, can you hear me? You have to respond now.” Her blue eyes were wide with fear, and it took a moment for Jesse to finally come back to the world of the living.

“Yeah...yeah I can hear ya. I’m fine, just gimme a sec. Don’t disconnect me, I think I got it…” Jesse wheezed, his brain finally catching up. He looked around to his teammates faces, all of them wearing expressions ranging from panic to determination. Angela let go of his face, pushing herself away from him. 

The Phoenix’s AHAB reactor came alive, the whole frame jolting at the surge of power. Jesse put his hands on the control sticks, flexing his fingers before gripping them tightly. His teammates cleared the area, the cockpit of the Gundam sliding into place in the chest unit. 

Screens lit up around him as the suit came to life, the display in front of him showing the launch bay from Phoenix’s eyes.

“Wow…” Jesse muttered softly, his body and the Phoenix’s seemingly moving as one. He looked at their hand, rotating the wrist and flexing the fingers. The white armor covering their wrist shining in the industrial lighting of the ORCA.

Phoenix moved forward, coming off the holding gear keeping them in place, their massive legs dwarfing anything around them. Their teammates looked tiny comparatively, almost comically small.

“Jesse, are you okay, does anything feel wrong?” Torbjorn’s voice echoed in their ear. If Jesse was honest, he had forgotten the comm system in the cockpit.

Jesse had never felt so...whole. Like something had been missing his whole life. He moved their hands again, his whole body feeling at peace. 

“Everything is perfect, Torb. i feel great.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, tell me what you think!! you can come message me at blackclawkitty on tumblr, or @oofitsbethi on twitter <3 also if you have any questions or things you think i should fix, please tell me <3


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